What books did you read to your kid as they were learning to read?

[Anonymous]

My kindergartener is right in the thick of learning to read -- she knows all the letters and their sounds and can sound out words with support, and is starting to gain real phonetic understanding. But she still can't sit down and just read a book on her own. But it does feel like this is probably coming in the next 6 months or so, especially with the support she'll now get at school (my understanding is that they do a lot more reading practice in kindergartener whereas there wasn't really much in PK)/

We have been reading a combination of picture books, early readers, and chapter books to her through this process. Do people have specific book recommendations for this age/reading level that were a hit with your kids? We'd especially love books that you read to your kids and then became the first books they read on their own (do those exist?). She loves books and loves being read to and we want to keep that interest alive through this process. She's a bit of a perfectionist and I think one reason she doesn't attempt to sound out words unless prompted is that it is so much harder than just having us read to her. We aren't going to stop that, but we'd love books that might inspire her to try it out on her own and will accommodate her level and help her to feel successful quickly. I'm guessing that means early readers but I've struggled to find good ones she finds engaging.

[Anonymous]

Dr. Seuss, anything with rhyme and meter. Little Golden books. If you go to your local library there should be a librarian on staff who knows the children's book section well enough to help you find books that meet your particular needs and goals.

[Anonymous]

Last year my kindergartener loved Charlotte's Web, James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Little Princess, Gregor the Overlander series, and the Faraway Tree series.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Last year my kindergartener loved Charlotte's Web, James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Little Princess, Gregor the Overlander series, and the Faraway Tree series.

These are obviously books we read to her.

[Anonymous]

A good progression of early readers:
Bob books
Dear Dragon books
Biscuit books
Usborne phonics readers
Mo Willems, Elephant and Piggie

Early chapter books:
Princess in Black
Kingdom of Wrenly
All of the Branches series, including Dragon Masters
Mia Mayhem
Weird School series

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kindergartener is right in the thick of learning to read -- she knows all the letters and their sounds and can sound out words with support, and is starting to gain real phonetic understanding. But she still can't sit down and just read a book on her own. But it does feel like this is probably coming in the next 6 months or so, especially with the support she'll now get at school (my understanding is that they do a lot more reading practice in kindergartener whereas there wasn't really much in PK)/

We have been reading a combination of picture books, early readers, and chapter books to her through this process. Do people have specific book recommendations for this age/reading level that were a hit with your kids? We'd especially love books that you read to your kids and then became the first books they read on their own (do those exist?). She loves books and loves being read to and we want to keep that interest alive through this process. She's a bit of a perfectionist and I think one reason she doesn't attempt to sound out words unless prompted is that it is so much harder than just having us read to her. We aren't going to stop that, but we'd love books that might inspire her to try it out on her own and will accommodate her level and help her to feel successful quickly. I'm guessing that means early readers but I've struggled to find good ones she finds engaging.

This is a good stage to do How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. It's a great foundation.

[Anonymous]

The Junie B Jones series. The main character is in kindergarten, which can be very easy to relate to. Even though they are chapter books, they are easy enough words to have the early reader attempt to recognize some familiar site words or sound them out. Also can try comic books, such as Dog Man, which is what got my now first grader motivated to read.

[Anonymous]

Elephant and Piggie
I Can Read books
Usborne First Raeders (the ones where the parent reads a page, then the child reads a page, my daughter LOVES those)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Junie B Jones series. The main character is in kindergarten, which can be very easy to relate to. Even though they are chapter books, they are easy enough words to have the early reader attempt to recognize some familiar site words or sound them out. Also can try comic books, such as Dog Man, which is what got my now first grader motivated to read.

I banned those books. She's such a horrible brat, and my kid started being bratty and sassy like her. So I told DD we weren't reading those books anymore and found books with nicer characters. Later found out a tons of parents in DD's grade did the same thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A good progression of early readers:
Bob books
Dear Dragon books
Biscuit books
Usborne phonics readers
Mo Willems, Elephant and Piggie

Early chapter books:
Princess in Black
Kingdom of Wrenly
All of the Branches series, including Dragon Masters
Mia Mayhem
Weird School series

OP here and thank you, this is a fantastic list. We have the Bob books, Mo Willems, and Princess in Black, but none of the others. I'll head to the library this week and see what I can pick up used online. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

It's not PC anymore but Dr. Seuss books helped alot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Junie B Jones series. The main character is in kindergarten, which can be very easy to relate to. Even though they are chapter books, they are easy enough words to have the early reader attempt to recognize some familiar site words or sound them out. Also can try comic books, such as Dog Man, which is what got my now first grader motivated to read.

I banned those books. She's such a horrible brat, and my kid started being bratty and sassy like her. So I told DD we weren't reading those books anymore and found books with nicer characters. Later found out a tons of parents in DD's grade did the same thing.

Yep. Also banned in our house.

[Anonymous]

I think you should differentiate the books you read to her versus the ones she learns to read. The ones she starts learning to read need to be so simple, that she would most likely memorize them instead of reading them.

Keep focusing on sounding out words. The Bob books are really good for this, as they’re decodable readers. The first ones ate deadly dull, but as more letters are added, they get better quickly. If she knows all the letters and their sounds, she might zoom through the early ones, or even skip to the ones that t are more interesting.

“No, David!” was a book my kids enjoyed reading at that age. The text consists of “No, David!” as rough illustrations show David running from one source of trouble to another. (In one scene you see him running away from his bath, naked.)

Another technique, is if the child is learning a letter combination, the parent can read the story and let the child read the words with that combination. For instance, when my kids learned “igh”, we read a picture book together called “Night” that included words like night, light, etc.

As for reading to her, read whatever she enjoys. Picture books and chapter books are all great. I would just avoid reading the easy reader books to her, so that they’ll be fresh and interesting for her to read.
My kids enjoyed:
Nursery Rhymes
Fairy Tales
Picture books, especially silly ones
the Quiltmaker books by Jeff Brumbeau - text heavy picture books with gorgeous illustrations
Princess Tales series by Gail Carson Levine
Flat Stanley chapter books
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle (chapter book)
My Father’s Dragon (chapter book) - I found this one a bit dull

[Anonymous]

I’d decouple your reading to her and her reading to herself. She’ll read, and it doesn’t really matter if it is next month or at the start of first grade. What she could lose is the love of words and reading because learning to read is a slog for some kids (my son and I are both dyslexic, so I know of what I speak). Read out loud to her (or let her listen to audiobooks) all the wonderful things that are at her cognitive level but beyond her reading level. Open doors for her she can’t open on her own. Plan to keep doing that for as long as she’ll let you - I read out loud to my son until he was 11 or so, just like my dad did for me.

When my son was in K I read him the first three Harry Potters, then took a break till he was in 2nd for the next few. After Potter we went through all the Percy Jackson books. He wasn’t a fan of the old classics I had loved so I didn’t push it - the point was to have him love the experience of reading.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kindergartener is right in the thick of learning to read -- she knows all the letters and their sounds and can sound out words with support, and is starting to gain real phonetic understanding. But she still can't sit down and just read a book on her own. But it does feel like this is probably coming in the next 6 months or so, especially with the support she'll now get at school (my understanding is that they do a lot more reading practice in kindergartener whereas there wasn't really much in PK)/

We have been reading a combination of picture books, early readers, and chapter books to her through this process. Do people have specific book recommendations for this age/reading level that were a hit with your kids? We'd especially love books that you read to your kids and then became the first books they read on their own (do those exist?). She loves books and loves being read to and we want to keep that interest alive through this process. She's a bit of a perfectionist and I think one reason she doesn't attempt to sound out words unless prompted is that it is so much harder than just having us read to her. We aren't going to stop that, but we'd love books that might inspire her to try it out on her own and will accommodate her level and help her to feel successful quickly. I'm guessing that means early readers but I've struggled to find good ones she finds engaging.

This is a good stage to do How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. It's a great foundation.

OP here and we actually bought this book a few months ago, but it was a bust for us. We still offer it sometimes, but it's too dry for her. It feels like a chore for both of us.

What has worked better for us is a Highlights phonics workbook (it's one of the ones with the dry erase pages so she can do it however many times she wants) and the Hooked on Phonics app. We are not big on screen time but she'll do like a 5 minute game on there and it has really helped her with sounding out words and also figuring out long and short vowels, as well as blends. The key to both is that they are fun for her, especially in small doses, and there's this immediate payoff. Yesterday she did like 4 pages from the workbook and even chose not to do the writing practice (we don't push) but also sounded out like 5 new words I had no idea she could sound out (including "oo" words and some with the silent "e" at the end which had previously been really frustrating for her). It was exciting and made me realize she is really just about to cross a big threshold with reading.

Just putting this here for anyone else who has tried the 100 Easy Lessons and found it unhelpful. There are other ways to support reading skills that might work better for your kid. I'd seen that suggested a million times here and elsewhere and felt mildly defeated when we got it and my kid didn't like it at all.